Stair climbing and ability to work for paraplegics with complete lesions--a sixteen-year follow-up.

A 16-year follow-up study of 69 paraplegics with complete lesions from T1-L3 is presented. The intention was to reveal to what extent crutch walking proficiency was retained years after discharge and what benefits were derived by adept crutch walkers compared to wheelchair-bound patients. At follow-up 69 per cent claimed to use their applicances regularly. Fifty-nine per cent of those still alive were still working for a living. There was a statistical significance between intelligence and ability to work and ability to climb 20 standard stairs and to work. The authors mention several advantages which the well-trained crutch walker is endowed with compared to the wheelchair bound patient who has not been given adequate opportunity to attain optimal crutch ambulation proficiency.